On a night when so many in the stands seemed to lose their heads, Rangers simply could not hold their nerve.

In a game inevitably and deservedly overshadowed by a Hibs supporter physically confronting visiting captain James Tavernier, the men in blue left Easter Road nursing another serious blow to their faltering title challenge.

For long enough, it looked as if the disgraceful incident was the closest anyone in green would come to laying a finger on Steven Gerrard’s men, who had gone ahead through Daniel Candeias late in the first half.

Florian Kamberi scored an equaliser to earn Hibernian a 1-1 draw with Rangers on Friday night

No 21 Daniel Candeias had given Rangers the lead and celebrated by kissing the club's badge

But a Flo Kamberi equaliser inside the closing quarter-hour, a goal that Hibs had rarely looked capable of scoring for most of the night, earned Paul Heckingbottom’s side a share of the spoils.

Given the seriousness of the attack on Tavernier, it’s only right that the agenda will now be set by talk of serious sanctions. Including closing a section of the stadium gaining notoriety as a hotbed of idiocy.

It would be wrong, though, to overlook the football. And impossible to ignore the fact that, yet again, Rangers dropped points from a game that they should have won at a canter.

Under Heckingbottom, Hibs had racked up three straight wins in the league — followed up by a Scottish Cup loss at home to Celtic.

Rangers arrived on the back of a ten-game unbeaten run, their most recent loss coming at Rugby Park on January 23.

A couple of Premiership draws during that sequence, though, have been too many for the liking of Gerrard.

Unless they could close the gap on leaders Celtic to five points here, well, everyone could do the maths.

And, with this pair having drawn in each of their previous meetings this season, plenty would have predicted another share of the spoils on a foul night in the capital.

Still, Rangers fans travelling east would have been buoyed by the news of Alfredo Morelos signing a new contract, even if many suspect that the only guarantee it offers is of proper compensation if and when he moves on.

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The Colombian was given a typically Scottish welcome here, smashed across the face by Darren McGregor swinging a forearm after just seven minutes.

The Hibs defender complained about being shown a yellow card but, in truth, he might have seen red for a moment of rashness — maybe even madness — on the halfway line so early in the game.

Rangers enjoyed the bulk of possession in the opening half-hour and created plenty of decent chances.

Scott Arfield saw a shot deflected over the bar by the sliding Mark Milligan after Ryan Kent had cut the ball back into a dangerous area.

The Hibs back four were looking stretched, none more so than Paul Hanlon, who was just straight-up robbed by Morelos on the 20-minute mark.

The forward advanced menacingly on goal, his low right-footed shot saved by the legs of Ofir Marciano. If Hibs were going to keep giving the in-form striker chances like that, they could not hope to keep a clean sheet.

A pitch invader caused disruption in the first half and was eventually taken away by police

The invading fan had clashed with and been confronted by Rangers captain James Tavernier

Just a minute later, Hanlon’s personal struggles continued as he was nutmegged by Arfield on the midfielder’s driving run into the box, McGregor putting in a covering challenge before he could shoot.

And, within moments, Morelos went down claiming a penalty as he tried to get on the end of a Tavernier cross, with David Gray in close attendance.

Throw in another fine Marciano save, this time at full stretch from a Kent effort heading for the bottom corner, and it hardly took a code breaker to detect an obvious pattern.

In response from Hibs? A couple of darting runs. One Kamberi hopeless mis-hit on the volley.

They were being cut open, especially down the flanks. Yet frustration was undoubtedly creeping into the atmosphere in the away end; they had seen too many days and nights to simply expect that the goal would come.

And then it did come, two minutes before the break. A breakaway that began with Kamberi failing to control the ball on the Rangers penalty spot — when a good touch would surely have resulted in a Hibs goal — ended with Candeias curling a beautiful left-footed shot into the far corner, leaving Marciano grasping at the vapour trail.

Just before half-time, there was a shameful one-man pitch invasion by a Hibs supporter intent on tangling with Tavernier, followed by at least one seat being thrown onto the pitch from the Rangers end. Utter madness. Again.

Tavernier was first out of the tunnel after the break, chest puffed out and ready for the challenge.

And he was clearly in the mood to do damage, marauding down the right flank and causing chaos in the Hibs box before testing Marciano with a fizzing high drive.

Midfielder Candeias found the net with a sweet left-footed strike on 43 minutes at Easter Road

Candeias was mobbed by his Rangers team-mates as they celebrated going in front on Friday

Morelos was chopped down by Gray ten minutes into the second half, the Hibs captain earning himself a booking for a fairly blatant foul.

Just moments later, though, Hibs had their best chance of the night, Daryl Horgan hitting his shot straight at the legs of Allan McGregor from Marc McNulty’s perfect cross; it was a sitter that the home side’s overall play barely merited.

Ryan Jack and Glen Kamara were bossing midfield and, had Kent been able to cross with more consistency, this game might have been over by the hour mark.

Hibs offered next to nothing in terms of sustained pressure but, still, there was always the chance of something — a Stevie Mallan bouncer that had McGregor scrambling, for example — turning this match on its head.

Yeah. About that. With 14 minutes remaining, Mallan picked out McNulty’s clever run off the shoulder of the last defender — and his perfect cross was turned in by the unmarked Kamberi.

The Swiss striker had only been noticeable through his lack of impact. Yet now he was everywhere, forcing a rebound from McGregor that Mallan really should have buried.

Rangers still turned the screw, firing balls into the box and forcing Hibs into some desperate goal-line defending.

Including McGregor being sent off for a second yellow card, bringing down Morelos on a breakaway in stoppage-time and Andy Halliday’s late free-kick clipping the bar on its way over.

It was enough to frustrate Rangers. On a night when they had plenty to feel frustrated about.

Hibernian equalised 14 minutes from full time when No 22 Kamberi slid in at the far post